Method of manufacturing shoe heels



1933- H. w. DARRAGH 2,127,208

METHOD OF MANUFACTURING SHOE HEELS Filed Sept. 19, 1936 INVEN TOR. 762179 N Danny/2 B A TTORNEYS.

Patented Aug. 16, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE METHOD OF MANUFACTURING SHOE HEELS Application September 19, 1936, Serial No. 101,561

2 Claims.

My invention relates to a method of manufacturing shoe heels. More particularly, it relates to the manufacture of heels of the Louis or a similar type wherein there is a lip extending outwardly or forwardly from the uppermost edge of the breast surface, and to heels which are provided with a decorative coating-of lacquer or the like.

The usual steps followed in the manufacture of a Louis or similar type of heel which has a lip extending outwardly from the uppermost edge of the breast surface is to first provide a block of wood sufficient in size to contain a finished heel.

Such block is then placed in a machine which forms the breast of the heel and at the same time, leaves a lip of some thickness, the outermost end of the lip extending a substantial distance forwardly of the breast surface. Following this operation the breasted block is placed in a suitable machine which forms the rounded back and side surfaces of the heel, whereupon the heel is concaved and graded in the usual manner. The next step in the operation of manufacturing the heel, consisted in what is commonly termed in the art as shank shaping which is that operation in which the forwardly extending lip of the heel is thinned down to such an extent that it may be disposed between the outsole and a flap cut from the sole, and cover ing the underside of the lip and the breast surface of the finished heel when the heel is placed on a shoe. The heel, finished so far as shape is concerned, is then subjected to a suitable decorative coating of lacquer or the like.

Considerable difficulty has been encountered using such heels which have been shaped and then lacquered, and which have their breast surfaces ultimately covered by a flap cut from the outsole of the shoe. This is due to the fact that or similar coating on the breast surface of the heel, which results in the sole flap covering for the heel breast coming loose and making an unsightly job. It has been necessary, in most instances, to mask or cover the back surface and the underside of the protruding lip of the heel to prevent these surfaces from becoming coated with lacquer during the operation of coating the heel.

My invention contemplates the provision of a method of manufacturing heels, which are covered with lacquer or similar coating, which automatically eliminates the necessity of masking or otherwise protecting the breast surface and the underside of the protruding lip of the heel, and

ordinary adhesives will not stick to the lacquer makes it possible to coat the heel with lacquer or a similar material without concern for these surfaces.

Various other objects and advantageous features of -my invention may be found in the accompanying drawing and the following description, wherein similar characters of reference designate corresponding parts and wherein:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a heel having'a lip extending from the uppermost edge of the breast surface and which has been shaped and coated with lacquer or similar material.

Fig. 2 is a view of the heel shown in Fig. 1 during the shank shaping operation.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a heel manufactured in accordance with the method herein disclosed.

Referring to the drawing, I have shown a heel A which is known as the Louis type, and having suitably shaped side and back portions I, as is well known in the art. These shaped side and back portions are those which are normally covered with lacquer or similar material for decorative purposes. The heel shown also includes a breast surface 2 which joins the shaped side portions at opposite sides of the front of the heel, and a lip 3 extending outwardly from the top of the breast surface 2. As shown in Fig. 1, the rounded side and back portions and the breast surface 2 have been coated with a lacquer or similar material, which may have been accomplished either by spraying or a dipping operation.

It will be noted in Fig. 1 that the extending lip 3 is relatively thick vertically. In other words, the extending lip 3 is of the same thickness as it was left by the grooving operation and prior to the concaving operation, and is entirely too thick vertically to be disposed between a flap cut from the outsole of the shoe and the remainder of the outsole. It is, therefore, necessary to thin down this lip 3 so that it may be disposed between a flap cut from the outsole of the shoe and the remainder of the outsole without showing a raised line or ridge on the bottom of the sole.

Referring to Fig. 2 of this drawing, I have shown the heel A as being disposed on what may be a suitable holder 4 and having its breast surface and the lip 3 subjected to a suitable cutting knife 5 or other tool, which is rotated at a high rate of speed while the heel is moved past it, as is well known in the art. The purpose of this operation is commonly known in the art as a shank shaping operation, and is done to thin down the lip 3 whereby it may be easily inserted between a flap cut from the outsole of a shoe and the remainder of the outsole, with the flap extending downwardly over the breast surface 2 of the heel to provide a heel having its breast surface covered by aportion of the outsole and presenting an unbroken surface where the breast of the heel and the sole meet.

The usual method of manufacturing a heel of the Louis or similar type which has a lip extending outwardly fromthe top of the heel breast surface has been to completely shape the heel as shown in Fig. 3 and then subject the heel to a coating of lacquer or similar material with a mask of tape or the like being put on the breast surface 2 and the underside of the lip 3 to prevent any lacquer or similar material from being disposed thereon. In accordance with the method disclosed by this invention, the heel is first properly shaped with the exception of a final thinning down of the lip 3, the heel is subjected to a coating of lacquer or similar material without regard to the breast surface 2 or the underside of the lip 3, and then the coated heel is subjected to the operation of shank shaping as shown in Fig. 2. In this shank scouring operation, the lip 3 is thinned down as hereinbefore described, in order to be disposed between the flap cut from the sole of a shoe and, at the same time, the breast surface 2 is subjected to the cutting blade 5 which will be effective to remove any lacquer therefrom, which has been placed thereon by the coating operation.

It has been found desirable to vary the above procedure to'produce a uniform high quality of heel. It will be understood, however, that the invention is not to be restricted to the specific method now to be described. Instead of thinning the lip 3 in one cutting operation after the coating has been applied a preliminary thinning or shank shaping operation is performed prior to the application of the coating. The coating is then applied and a final light shaping operation is performed to reduce the lip to its correct thickness and simultaneously remove the coating from the breast and under surface of the lip. The heel is then ready, as before, to be applied to the shoe.

As shown, this method of manufacturing a heel of the Louis or similar type which is coated with lacquer or a similar material, results in a heel such as is shown in Fig. 3, wherein the rounded back and sides I of the heel are coated with a lacquer or similar material, while the breast surface 2 and the under side of the lip 3 is entirely free of any coating material. Thus, there is no material on the heel breast surface or the under side of the lip to which adhesive will not adhere, and the sole flap, which extends entirely down over the breast surface of the heel, will be held tightly thereto.

What I claim is:

1. The method of manufacturing woodheels of the type having a lip projecting forwardly from the upper portion of the breast face, which comprises shaping the sides, back and breast face and partly forming the lip of the heel from a wood heel block, coating the back and sides of the heel with lacquer or the like, and then in a single operation presenting the heel to a tool which cleans the heel breast face to render the same free of coating material and shapes the lip tocomplete the formation thereof.

2. The method of manufacturing wood heels of the type having a lip projecting forwardly from the upper portion of the breast face, which comprises shaping the sides, back and breast face and partly forming the lip of the heel from a wood heel block, coating the back and sides of the heel with lacquer or the like, and then in a single operation presenting the heel to a cutting tool which cleans the heel breast face to render the same free of coating material and simultaneously removes a thin layer of wood from the bottom face of the lip to complete the formation thereof.

HARRY W. DARRAGH. 

